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Thursday, March 31, 2011

I got off work early today so I had some time to kill before meeting up with some foodie friends for dinner.

I decided to check out OMG Baked Goodness since it was nearby. It was featured on the tv show "Toronto Dining" and I have been wanting to try this place for quite some time since I seen that episode. Finally I was in the area so I made my visit.

I love the pretty artwork on the walls it really gave it a nice warm feeling to the place. There is a huge open space behind the counter and some machinery near the far end of the wall. Guess that is where all the OMG baked goodness comes from since everything is prepared fresh daily.

Since the place was empty I took my sweet time taking pictures. Kind of disappointed with a few pictures since it turned out a bit blurry. Oh well I tried.

Here are some huge double chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies.

Here are spicy ginger and cinnamon chocolate chip cookies. I bought one cinnamon cookie. I took a bite and it was delicious. Full of cinnamon flavor and yummy chocolate goodness in between.

Here is their infamous vegan chocolate cupcake that I've heard so much about on twitter as well as seen on the show.

I bought the mini versions of the cupcakes. It was pretty darn delicious. Light, airy and decadently mmm mmm good. Wished I gotten the regular sized cupcakes the minis were just a tease. I never had vegan cupcakes before and I have to say I loved it. Think I want to try more vegan food now lol.

I also bought the dulce de leche cheesecake. I haven't tried it yet since I'm so stuffed from dinner but will try it tomorrow.

I think these are scones and some tart or pie. Sorry I don't really remember too busy snapping photos.

Here are hazelnut meringue with chocolate ganache filling in the centre. I purchased this as well and will try it tomorrow.

Here are pumpkin cranberry sticky toffee puddings.

Here are lemon poppyseed angel cakes with citrus glaze.

Here are flourless chocolate tortes which I was considering on buying but ended up choosing the cheesecake instead since the server told me it was one of the bestsellers. Hope I made the right choice.

Everything looked so decadent and mouthwatering I'm surprised I walked out with only a few items. Then again I didn't really have that much money on me lol hence the small purchase. So far I only ate the cupcakes and they were OMG goooooooood. I definitely have to return again and this time I will not hold back.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Man Doo Hyang, a dumpling and noodle house located along Yonge, was not what I expected.

We were starving so we decided to give this place a shot.

It was around noon when we arrived. The place was empty. Actually think the employees were either having a meeting or eating their lunch but since we walked in they all scurried quickly away to the kitchen.

Here is a complimentary plate of dumplings. They were pretty bland. It was in need of a lot of seasoning. Not very promising considering it was a dumpling house.

Here were the side dishes. The kimchi was really tasty and fresh.

I got just plain noodle soup and plain it was. The broth was extremely bland and once again in need of seasoning. Do they not have salt in the kitchen? Don't understand how it can be so flavorless. The noodles however, were homemade and yummy. There was too much noodles so I couldn't finish my dish. I kept trying to throw some noodles into my boyfriend's bowl since he complained there was too little noodles in his.

My boyfriend got the dumpling and noodle soup. He found his tasteless as well. He tried to add some seasoning to it so it wasn't too bad after.

My brother-in-law got some soup with beef in it. It looked like bulgogi but just in soup.

My sister-in-law got the dumpling soup with rice cakes. I think she was the only one who enjoyed her dish. Maybe I should have ordered that instead since her dumpling did appear appetizing.

I thought this was cute so couldn't help snapping a picture of it. It says Kam-sa-ham-ni-da which means thank you in Korean.

My sister-in-law informed me that their Mississauga location is much more popular and it's always packed.

I don't know how much better it could get but hey I'm willing to give it another shot since they produce their own noodles. Maybe we just didn't have the right chef that day.

I wanted to try their cold soy bean soup with noodles however, it was only available in the summer. Hope it doesn't disappoint me again.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

You know when you get that awful feeling after a fast food meal where you feel so disgusted with yourself you just loathe yourself for even eating it in the first place. Well, that's how I felt after eating chicken from Popeye's.

Normally I head to the one along Yonge street but since this was the closest one nearby we decided to go to the Vaughan location instead.

We were excited when we carried our takeout to the car. The entire car reeked of the greasy fried chicken. It made us even more hungrier.

We got 10 mild and 10 spicy pieces of chicken. My boyfriend requested for all legs and thighs. We should have checked the boxes before leaving. They gave us mostly wings and breast. Exactly what we didn't ask for. We waited 15 minutes for these too. Urrrghhhh!!!

The meat was dry. I tried to drench it in ketchup yet still found it hard to swallow.

We also got biscuits that ended up being really dry and absolutely horrible as well.

The other sides we purchased were the mashed potatoes with gravy and cole slaw. It was mediocre but at least it was edible.

Never again will I ever crave for Popeye's chicken. My body still hasn't forgiven me for what I had done. Just even looking at these pictures gives me the shivers. Yuck!!!

The last 2 we had were the Caramel Crunch and some coffee one I can't remember the name of.

At the shop there was a dispute between me and my boyfriend as we were arguing over whether or not we have tried the cake called Prince Noir. It consisted of flourless hazelnut meringue topped with dark chocolate mousse, layer of coffee cream mixed with caramelized hazelnuts.

I said it sounded familiar and that we did try it already. He disagreed.

The verdict.

We did eat it already. I was right.

Regardless, it was still yummy the second time around. I love the cakes at Amadeus I can never get enough of it.

We also bought 2 croissants to snack on since we couldn't wait till dinner.

My boyfriend had a cheese croissant and he did not like it at all. He said he wasn't cheesy enough.

I had the almond croissant and I liked it. It was full of flaky almond goodness. It was difficult taking a picture in the car while trying not to shake at the same time. Also the glaring sun didn't help either but this was all I could manage.

Next time I think I might try the Marzipan cake or maybe the Tiramisu. Mmmmmm...

Thursday, March 24, 2011

If you want yummy desserts and a good laugh head to Cafe Mania but do be careful of what you say since Peter might be hovering around and eavesdropping in on your conversation (just kidding).

Me and my sister-in-law wanted desserts (well mostly me hehe) since we just finished dinner at Khao San Road.

It was martini Wednesdays at Cafe Mania where the martinis were $6. My sister-in-law got the dirty martini. Peter, the host/crepe flavor creator, was joking around and had to ask her how dirty she liked it. (He just couldn't resist).

While contemplating on what to order we kept hearing a few whispers coming from behind the bar telling us to order the heaven crepe, one of Peter's own creation which wasn't displayed on the menu.

We finally gave in and ordered a waffle and Peter's crepe.

Here is Peter's sweet concoction with goat cheese, strawberries, walnuts, honey and I think one other ingredient I don't quite remember maybe whip cream or something. It tasted funky at first which came from the pungent goat cheese but after a few more bites it got better and better as all the flavors mingled around together. It was actually really tasty. We were skeptical at first but he proved us wrong. It was indeed heavenly. Great job Peter:)

Here is the waffle called Mania's Darling. When it arrived to our table we actually stopped mid-sentence just to say oooo and admire the pretty work of art. It included freshly cut apple slices which was arranged into a flower-like shape, crunchy walnut pieces, one scoop of vanilla ice cream positioned right in the centre of the flower, swirls of caramel fudge and a light dust of cinnamon. It was scrumptious. I normally dislike sour apples however, the balance of tartness and sweetness actually complimented each other very well.

After inhaling our food we just sat and chatted for a while. Peter would join us here and there when he was either free or he just wanted to bud into our conversation. At one point when there were no patrons around he sat and chatted with us for a while. We discovered that he had a tattoo of an Asian character on his arm. When we asked what it meant he said it meant secret or shadow of something. (Sorry kinda fuzzy on the details here). I just wanted to know what was his "secret" since he had a tattoo of it lol. He was tight-lipped but then customers were piling in so he had an excuse to leave.

Later on Peter brought over a crepe to our table. We were confused for a sec since we were certain we didn't order anything else. He said he wanted us to try another one of his new creation. This one had strawberries, chocolate, dusting of powdered sugar and something else which I'm sure I am missing. This was another delight. Thanks Peter for letting us sample another one of your creations. You can call me over anytime to taste test your sweet discoveries.

He even gave us some pink drink which tasted kinda like sex on the beach. Wow 2 freebies in 1 night. I like it:)

Here Peter tried to make a crepe for me but failed miserably. Well he got points for trying at least. It was the other server who was better at making the crepes. Think he's just there to look pretty hehe. (Just joking). Peter is great at working the crowds. It really makes the atmosphere a pleasant and relaxing environment where you feel like you are just hanging at home with some friends.

The cafe was a great place to hang out and we had a lot of good laughs. Time just flew by. It sucked that it was a weeknight otherwise we would have stayed longer.

Thanks Peter for an awesome experience and letting us sample your crepe creations..

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

It was a long cold journey but I finally made it through the snowy weather to the restaurant Khao San Road.

I walked right by the place since there was no visible sign unless you count the 3 or 4 pieces of paper taped to the window. Thank god I was on foot unlike my sister-in-law she drove right past it. Also it's a one way street on Adelaide so once you past it then you would have to circle around to get back.

I made reservations to avoid the lineup and it was a good thing too because once we entered the restaurant there were quite a few tables already reserved. Luckily one of those tables was for us.

Me and my sister-in-law were extremely excited about eating there. I kept texting her throughout the day just counting down till dinner time. Finally the wait was over.

After a few minutes of deliberation we finally waved the server over and began to order. We went all out.

My sister-in-law had to try out the Thai beer. She said it actually complimented the food really well. Maybe I should try it out on my next trip.

For our starter we had the gra bong. The fritters were a mixture of squash, red curry paste, shrimp paste, lemongrass and eggs all deep fried together. I must say these were absolutely out of this world. I never cared for squash but after chowing down on these fritters I am now in love with squash. It is a must try. Great way to kickstart the meal.

Here is the gaeng phed. We chose the chicken red curry since we were told the red curry was much more popular than the green curry dish. It was really tasty. The potatoes were melt in your mouth tender and full of red curry flavor just soaking up in the potatoes.

This dish, khao soi, was highly recommended by our server. It consisted of egg noodles in a coconut milk enriched curry with chunks of braised beef garnished with crispy noodles, green onions and lime. The succulent meat was juicy and tender and the egg noodles were just oodles of joy. Absolutely luscious. It was a great recommendation.

Now this was the reason why I came, the pad thai (street style) with shrimp. We chose mild for the level of spiciness and I have to say it was not spicy at all. In fact it was sweet to me so maybe I should have gotten medium or even hot instead since my partner can definitely handle her spices. Nevertheless, it was gratifying. I would have licked the plate clean if I was eating it at home. It was just amazingly scrumptious. Truly authentic. No ketchup in here. Just the way it was suppose to be made.

The food was superb and the service was great. I just can't believe us 2 girls finished every morsel of food. Man we are pigs. My stomach was so full that it was hard to get up. Thank god I had my stretchy pants on. I came prepared.

We ended up buying 2 more orders of the street style pad thai to take home and this time they were medium spicy. However, our men inhaled the food in one sitting. Darn was hoping I could steal a few bites. Oh well gotta head back to the restaurant and grab some more. Wonder what I should try on my next trip.

I trekked through the snowy weather today for these colorful delights. It was certainly worth getting my boots all soaking wet.

At first I couldn't find Nadege Patisserie through all the white flakes continuously falling from the sky. All covered in snow, I finally arrived to my destination.

There were so many goodies to choose from but since I was having dinner at Khao San Road later I just purchased a dozen macarons. It came in a nice lil rectangular box which was perfect for me since I wasn't going home anytime soon so at least wouldn't have to worry too much about the macarons being all squished up. Also the server told me to keep the macarons refrigerated which was not a problem at all in this cold weather.

Here were the other sweet delectables for the day. The tarts looked so adorable and delish I can't believe I had self control and didn't buy everything. Even their croissant sandwiches looked tasty as well.

Here were items displayed on the wall. Apparently everything is all made at Nadege even the marshmallows and chocolates as well. I was eyeing them for quite some time till I finally decided against it since I've already bought a bunch of macarons. Once again self control.

So far I ate 2 macarons and they were delicious. Can't wait to try out the remaining flavors. I definitely have to return and try out the other goodies. Hope it's not another journey through the snow again. Then again I discovered that they will be opening a 2nd location in Rosedale sometime in April. Yayyy!!! Don't have to travel all the way downtown for these goodies now.

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Food Explorer

Don't you hate it when you can't decide on a place to eat? Or better yet can't remember what restaurants you want to try? Well I decided to create a list so I never have to be in that situation again. I love to eat and I definitely love to try out new restaurants. Now with my handy list I hope I can try out everything. Some will be good and some will be bad. But you never know till you try it. So off I go with my list and my trusty iPhone to take pix of my food experiences. Hope it will all be EAT HERE NEXT!!! Also feel free to email me your thoughts at EatHereNext@gmail.com.